- Sympathy for the Devil -
- Chapter 3 -
Lex sat alone in her room, contemplating the different events of the past few days. She didn't quite understand Kai's thinking. He seemed so indifferent about life. Like nothing ever got to him, whether it be good or bad. She had always thought her life was pretty damn bad, but then suddenly it didn't seem so bad anymore, once someone worse came along. Elexis shivered. The mere thought of losing her parents was simply unbearable. How he could live with himself was beyond her.
"Maybe… maybe I'm just weak?" the teen asked herself. She remembered always being hurt by someone. It was usually Tala, to be more exact. Being in love with a person like him was not an easy task. He drove her to the edge a lot of the time, mocking her and being cruel in so many different ways. He knew how she felt, or at least he should have by now. But it all meant very little to him. If it meant anything, it was only a way for him to make her suffer more.
'It's strange… I used to think Kai and Tala were pretty similar. They're both cold, somewhat conceited, detached from the rest of the world, and seem to be indifferent when it comes to emotion. No…Tala's not indifferent to all emotion… he enjoys pain and sadness. Kai's… completely indifferent. He just doesn't give a damn about anything. Well except for success… and his car maybe. But he's not cruel like Tala at least… URGH who CARES! Why am I even thinking about him? Why do I even bother comparing him to Tala? It's like… It's like I'm trying to make a choice… but why? I don't need to make a choice… I just need some space… besides… no one could replace Tala. He's… everything.
…. But Kai did save my life…'
"ELEXIS! YOU HAVE TO GO RETURN THOSE BOOKS TO THE LIBRARY! THEY'RE ALMOST OVERDUE!"
Elexis snapped back to reality at the sound of her mother's voice.
"Great… another trip to no where…" she sighed to herself as she gathered the books, and headed for the door.
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Kai sighed as he dropped his keys on the old wooden desk. It was scratched and worn out, just like the eight-year-old computer that sat on it, collecting dust.
"Useless piece of shit," Kai cussed, unable to beat down the bubbling anger and frustration.
'Why the fuck am I so pissed? It's not because of that stupid girl and her karma talk is it? No… there's no reason for me to be angry because of that… I'm angry because of something else. But what?'
A knock sounded on the door, diverting Kai's attention. "Yeah?"
"Mr. Hiwatari, there's a letter here for you…" the voice on the other side of the door said.
Kai blinked momentarily. 'Letter? I never get letters… unless it's Santa Clause telling me I was a naughty boy this year… wait… Christmas isn't for another three months. Scratch that…'
"Who the hell would send me a letter?" he called back
"…Your grandfather… apparently… he'd like you to be informed that there's a leadership training camp he is running in approximately three months time… he requests that you apply for a spot."
"Grandfather!" Kai exclaimed.
Now this was really making his blood boil. 'I've been a fucking orphan my whole life… and suddenly I have a fucking grandfather who never took the time to see to the fact that I existed, and now he wants me to attend some shitty leadership camp of his? What the fuck is this about!"
Swinging the door open full force, the messenger wore a startled expression as the old wooden door was slammed into the inner wall of the room.
"Give me this!" Kai barked at the messenger as he snatched the letter from the poor man's hands. Eyeing the letter, he couldn't help but noticed the fancy 'Biovolt' seal. "What a joke," he mumbled as he slammed the already abused door into the messenger's face.
Skimming over the letter, Kai could not believe what he was reading. This loon, whom he had never met in his entire life, wanted him to apply for some elite leadership program that would take up almost all his free time.
Tossing the letter aside, the grungy teen decided he needed to take a walk. This was going way too far. Slamming the door to his room for the third time, Kai stormed out of the orphanage house without a word. He didn't bother to sign out like everyone was supposed to- he was just too fed up with rules.
Speed walking down the streets like an angry gothic-looking teenager was not very appealing to most bystanders, especially when they received dirty looks for staring. Kai scowled as he watched the everyday townspeople whisper and look away when he caught them looking. Everything seemed to be falling apart these last few days, since the arrival of that stupid girl in his life.
'Maybe it's bad karma…?' he considered momentarily, before shaking his head in disbelief. 'What the fuck is wrong with me… karma my ass…'
The boy looked up to see he was approaching the old factory – it was shut down a year ago because of some child labor rumors, and marijuana planting apparently. No one really knew what happened though. He hated this part of town, it really wasn't the greatest of places. Shuddering slightly at the sight of the old worn down place, Kai picked up his pace.
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Elexis sighed as she walked along the old streets towards the video rental place. It was just past that old shut down factory, where they used to grow marijuana.
'What a joke,' she thought to herself. 'I can't believe people would be stupid enough to do something like that. Although I think it would be a good idea if they just tore down this spooky place and built up a nice new building that doesn't scare people crapless. God knows what lives in that building now…'
Elexis picked up her pace as she walked by the old factory. Suddenly, a flash of blue caught her eye. Turning her head, her eyes widened slightly as she saw none other, than Kai, speeding past her at that very moment.
'Well speak of the devil…I just can't stop thinking about you lately…'
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Kai was really getting sick of seeing people stare at him. All he was seeing lately was a bunch of brown eyes following him around everywhere….
'Brown…brown…brown…black…brown….br-…no…blue… I see blue eyes… finally, God decided to put some fucking colour into the world.'
Shifting a bit, Kai was shocked when his gaze fell upon the girl he had saved earlier.
'Oh it's bad-karma-girl… how convenient…'
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'Ahh! Shit! He saw me looking!' Lex panicked mentally as she quickly averted her eyes to the ground, her cheeks burning crimson. 'Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid girl!'
"Fancy meeting you here," a voice said dryly.
Elexis looking up to meet the burning gaze of Kai's cold mahogany eyes.
"I smell sarcasm!" she snapped, trying to sound angry.
Kai frowned. "Hey, I don't know what kind of shit you have at home, but don't take it out on me…"
Elexis felt a strange kind of anger rising in the pit of her stomach. Who did he think he was? Telling her about her own problems! "Problems! Listen buddy, I don't have ANY problems at ALL! Not in my house!"
Kai smirked. He knew he was getting to her, and for some reason, he was really enjoying having this power. "…So… if it's not problems at home… then it must be something else. Like… Tala, per say?"
Elexis visibly tensed. "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!" she exploded. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"
With that, she shoved through Kai, trying to get her final point across, but not before he grabbed her upper arm before she could walk away with the victory.
Tugging her close to his body, he leaned down, his warm breath tickling her ear.
"Don't upset me, girl. I'm running out of places to hide the bodies." He whispered menacingly.
Elexis' breath caught in her throat at his threatening words. For a moment, she took him seriously, and Kai could sense this. Smirking, he released her slowly, looking down into her fearful ocean blue eyes.
Without a word, Elexis spun around and kept walking towards the video store.
'Scary…' she thought to herself as she glanced over her shoulder one last time to see him stalking back towards the orphanage. 'He wasn't serious…' she laughed to herself nervously. '…was he?'
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The weekend had passed rather dryly, and Monday almost seemed like a welcoming break for Elexis- although it did mean another week of hell and humiliation at school. During the week she would nearly become suicidal with depression from the harassment she received from other students. Friday seemed so very welcoming in the end, but then the torture of being with her family at home didn't seem to help much either, making her depression return rather quickly. It was a never-ending cycle to Elexis. She sighed as she walked into her calculus class. Ray and Max waved to her cheerfully, whereas she returned nothing but a dull smile.
Her two newfound friends frowned slightly, but shrugged it off, motioning for Lex to come sit in the empty seat they saved for her.
Smiling a bit more brightly, she made her way over to them, but not before a hard object found it's way entangled in Elexis' feet, causing her to trip, and collide nose first with the floor.
The room erupted into menacing laughter, as fingers pointed, and eyes stared. Elexis' cheeks burned with humiliation, but only until she realized the foot which she had tripped over was placed in front of her on purpose. Raising her head to glare stonily at the perpetrator, Elexis was immediately humbled as she locked eyes with Tala. His emerald orbs held malice, and his smile was menacing and cruel. He enjoyed making her feel pain. Lowering her head again, Elexis slowly rose to her feet as the laughter died down, and proceeded towards her seat. She saw Ray glaring at Tala, as Max sent a worried glance in her diretion.
"Are you just going to take that and walk away?" a cold, sharp voice cut through the silence of the room.
Elexis stopped in her tracks. She slowly turned, fearful of more embarrassment. To her surprise, it was none other than Kai, sitting a few seats away from Tala. His chair was pulled out from his desk where he sat lazily, his right arm casually slung around the backrest. His eyes were cold and hard as usual, his expression somewhat bored and dry.
Elexis gulped. 'Was that a rhetorical question?' she thought to herself. 'Because I really don't know how to answer it…'
When Kai wouldn't lower his gaze, Elexis gave in, slowly turning her head and walking away to her seat.
Murmurs began to sound throughout the classroom, as students whispered amongst themselves about Kai and his new war with Tala.
Kai audibly sighed, finally lowering his gaze. "Foolish girl…"
Once in her seat, Elexis was having trouble finding the courage to look up at Max and Ray, knowing they were looking at her.
"Hey.. are you ok?" Max asked concerned.
"Yea…. I'm fine," Elexis replied, her voice feeling weak again. She didn't understand why it affected her so much. She had been experiencing this for the past four years, so why should today and yesterday be any different or any more painful? For some reason, the thought of Kai seeing her like this made her feel stupid.
"Listen Lex, don't let him get to you… if you do he'll always do it!" Ray exclaimed, his eyebrows furrowed and his jaw clenched. Was there something between Tala and Ray? It was true that many people didn't like Tala, but no one was as expressive about it as Ray was. So perhaps the two had some kind of history?
"Yeah, I'll try. It's just that… he's so intimidating!" I confessed, finally managing to look up.
Ray frowned. "The only reason he's intimidating is because he thinks he's got power over everyone. Show him otherwise!"
I gulped uncertainly. "Right."
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Elexis couldn't stop thinking about what Kai had said that morning in first period. Was he trying to help her? Or did he just want to embarrass her even more? She didn't even know. Sometimes he didn't seem to care about her existence at all, other times he seemed to enjoy mocking her, in a not so cruel kind of way, and today… today he almost seemed to try and help her find some kind of strength.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw Kai walking down the hall towards her, his usual confident stride intimidating its way through the crowds. Finally remembering his chain that he had dropped, she reached down into her pocket to pull it out. Casually stopping a few steps before Kai, she called out to him.
"Hey Kai, you forgot something!"
Raising his eyebrows Kai eyed the girl casually. "What is it?"
Lifting the small trinket, she jingled it before his eyes. "I thought you might want this back. I found it outside after your fight with Tala, but… I kind of forgot to give it back until now…" she smiled sheepishly at him.
He stared at her for a moment, as if taking in what she had said before grabbing his beloved chain and staring down at it in mild amusement. "Funny, how it always seems to come back to me." He murmured quietly.
"Huh?"
"…Nothing. Tell me something. Why do you let that guy push you around?"
Elexis froze. 'No, not this again…' Lowering her gaze, all she could do was shrug lazily.
Kai sighed. "Look, I know you like him and shit, and I know he's intimidating and no one would dare stand up to him, but you should at least say something. People would respect you more, and you'd have less shit heads to deal with every day. This way, you seem weak, so people just treat you like you're crap, since it IS the impression you give off."
Elexis scowled darkly. "What did you say!"
"See… why can't you act that way with him?" Kai inquired.
Elexis' angry face faded as she stared past him in confusion. "I…just can't. It's too hard."
The goth rolled his eyes. "It's really not, just do it," he said walking past her "It'll make your life a lot easier. Then you'll have less to complain about!"
Elexis thought for a moment about what she had just heard. 'He's right… DAMNIT…WHY IS HE ALWAYS RIGHT!' Anger began to boil inside the small girl as she seethed about the orphan who seemed to know everything about everything. "STUPID KAI!"
Kai stopped in his tracks to look back and smirk at the girl. His amusement faded however when he noticed a group of Tala's lackeys gathering behind her.
"Well well well, what do we have here…a sad little Lexie?" Bryan chuckled as he poked the girl in the arm.
"Careful Bry, she might turn to jello and fall apart if you're too rough with her." Mocked Johnny as he stared the smaller girl down. "What's the matter sweetie-pie… cat got your tongue?" he cooed, leaning in.
Next to Tala, Bryan and Johnny were probably the rudest and most disrespectful people she knew. They had little personality to be quite frank, but a lot of nerve to criticize everyone else's.
Elexis felt a Kai-like rage begin to push her over the edge. She had had enough.
"Don't upset me, Johnny," she began through clenched teeth. "I'm running out of places to hide the bodies."
A/N: woooo…that took me like half a year… I'm really sorry guys I know this took forever… but I've been so busy and had a messive writers block…